WHAT HAPPENS IF I UNDERPAY MY PROPERTY TAXES?

For my latest Real Estate Law Update I came back to one of my recurring topics, real property taxes.  As in, what happens when property taxes are not paid on time, in full.  I often tell people that there’s rarely a need to panic over unpaid property taxes, because in Arizona, the taxes have to be unpaid for a long time before anything bad will happen.  
I should hasten to add, however, that bad things can and will happen if you let property taxes go unpaid long enough, so don’t neglect them.  
It’s also a good idea to make sure that you pay the correct amount, or if you’re going to err, err on the side of paying too much rather than too little.  If you pay too much, the county treasurer (in Arizona, that’s the government official who collect property taxes) will usually either refund the overpayment to you, or apply the overpayment to the next year’s taxes. 
Which leads me to the subject of the Update, which is, does the government seize your property if you underpay your property taxes?  The answer is, you will lose your property, but it probably won’t be the government that ends up with it.  In most cases, a private tax lien investor is the one who will end up with your property.  
Want the details?  Read the Update, now available for your reading pleasure in the news and events section of deconcinimcdonald.com.